Why Osteopathy?

Principles of Osteopathic Medicine

The body has the inherent capacity to defend itself and repair itself.

When normal adaptability is disrupted, or when environmental changes overcome the body’s capacity for self maintenance, disease may ensue.

Movement of the body fluids is essential to the maintenance of health.

The nerves play a crucial part in controlling the fluids of the body.

There are somatic components to disease that are not only manifestations of disease, but also are factors that contribute to the maintenance of the diseased state.

Implicit in these philosophies is the belief that osteopathic intervention has a positive influence on the above. (taken from Osteopathic Council of New Zealand)

Osteopathy

Osteopathy is a hands-on, holistic, drug-free form of manual medicine; focusing on total body health through treating and strengthening the structures and functions of the body. It is a safe natural and non-invasive treatment tailored to the individual patient.

Osteopaths consider your physical body, your emotional well-being and how you relate to the world around you, in treatment of your symptoms. The goal is to remove the barrier(s) that are preventing the body from using its own innate healing mechanisms to heal itself. Thus leading to improved function and a better quality of life for the patient.

Osteopathic treatment optimises the movement of all the structures in the body allowing them to better work together. This assists healing by softening tight muscles, increasing joint movement, improving blood and lymphatic flow, nerve communication and organ function.

Osteopathy in the cranial field (OCF) or cranial osteopathy is the method of choice used by the practitioners at Stillpoint.

Cranial Osteopathy

Cranial osteopathy is a gentle yet extremely effective way to treat a wide range of conditions in people of all ages and is particularly suited to treating babies and children, with emphasis on treating the body as a whole.

Cranial osteopathy is a “subtle” therapy that focuses on the light holding of the skull and sacrum to feel the natural involuntary rhythm of the body (the slow pulsation caused by the flow of cerebrospinal fluid throughout the body tissues), detecting areas where the body tissues move freely and if the flow of movement is “stuck”. With almost imperceptible movements the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid is affected, restoring healthy fluid movement to the tissues which allows the body’s own self healing mechanisms to restore health and improve wellbeing.

What does cranial treatment feel like?

Cranial osteopathic treatment is very relaxing and is quite subtle. For some there may be feelings of warmth or tingling or it may feel like nothing much is happening at all during the treatment but are aware of changes when they go to get up from the table.